Death of newspaper editor in train wreck
BEVERAGE
Posted By: Frances Sigley (email)
Date: 4/14/2018 at 15:51:38
Our great grandfather Wilbur Winthrop Willis was adopted by a stockbroker from New York after his parents were killed in a train wreck. He was born around 1870. (Estimated from census records)
The family story: Mr Beverage was an editor of a “Sun” newspaper in Iowa. He and his wife traveled to (possibly New York) and were killed in a train wreck. The 5 children were adopted to 5 different families, hence Wilbur became a Willis.
He later married Grace Routt, daughter of George Byram Routt and Amy Wheeler of Chariton, Lucas Co, IA after 1895, before 1900.
In the 1900 census, Grace is found in Kansas with baby George (our grandfather), 1905 Wilbur and family in Burton,KS, and in 1907 dying in Harrison, AK of a burst appendix. (great aunt Helen B. related he died on the kitchen table during surgery).
We have not located a burial site online, and have not searched Boone Co, AK yet. He had become a preacher and Grace taught school at this time.
The reason I am contacting you is because I recently found a picture of Wilbur taken at the “W.M. Swank’s Art Gallery in Morning Sun, IA. He is a young man in the picture, possibly taken before his marriage to Grace.
I feel he had ties to that area, possibly his siblings. Their are “Wheelers” in the Morning Sun cemetery, perhaps he met Grace there in Morning Sun.
George traveled to IA during the 1950’s to locate the adoption records. He was told the court house burned. We don’t know where he went in IA.
Grace lived in Chase Co,KS as the superintendent of schools and her adult children stayed in the area. Grandfather George lived in Newton,KS. We live in Wichita,KS.
Adoptions really put up a brick wall while hunting down the ancestors. Our DNA is on ancestors.com. So far we have no DNA circles of Beverage/Willis.
If you can give us any information about the editors of the Morning Sun newspapers during the years 1870-1885, we would appreciate it. Just need some names for which to start looking! I did try to access train wrecks during that time and did not find anything useful. Maybe the old newspaper archives would have an article.
Thank you for your time,
Steve and Frances Sigley
Goldbugfs@msn.comPs, Steve has an acquaintance with the surname Beverage, and they look like brothers!
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